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31 Best Wordless Videos to Teach Problem Solving

Wordless videos are a fun and entertaining way to get your students learning and talking. Using wordless videos to teach problem-solving is a great way to keep your students stay engaged all while working on their goals.

Who Could Benefit From Wordless Videos?

Students who struggle to solve social problems can benefit from first practicing problem-solving someone else’s problems in a wordless animation, for example, prior to having to solve the social problems in their own lives. It’s easier to identify problems in someone else’s life than it is in your own life.

Ways in Which to Use Voiceless Videos

• Answering wh-questions: Have your students watch the animated short film and then ask them wh-questions.
• Retell a story/sequencing: After watching the films have your students retell or sequence the short film.
• Solving hypothetical problems: Use the following wordless videos to teach problem-solving. Stop the video throughout and have your students identify the problem and a possible solution to the problem. Then you can move on to practice solving problems in real life .
• Predictions/inferences: Stop the video throughout and have your students make predictions and inferences about what might happen next in the film.

Don’t Forget to Grab your Freebie!

Be sure to grab the freebie that goes along with this bundle of wordless videos. The freebie comes with:

• Problem-solving
• A set of wh-questions
• Story retell with predictions

There are 31 sets of the following worksheets.

Before you begin…

• I have watched all of these short animations to make sure they are appropriate. However, please preview the entire video prior to showing your students as you know best what is appropriate for your level of comfort and for your individual students.
• Almost all of these videos show ads prior to the start of the animation short. I suggest cueing up the video prior to showing the video to your students as some ads may not be appropriate.

31 Wordless Videos to Teach Problem Solving

1. t he small shoemaker: 5:32 minutes.

This short is about Mr. Botte’s shoemaker’s shop, and the passionate and skillful shoemaker’s daily life is about to be disturbed as another shoemaker creates a street vendor stall just in front of Mr. Botte’s store!

2. The Sweet Cocoon: 5:57 minutes

End video by 4:55. Please preview the end of this video prior to showing it to your students. I have decided to end this video by 4:55 minutes to avoid the sad ending for some of my students.

This animation is about two insects that decide to help a struggling caterpillar in her metamorphosis process!

3. The Wishgranter: 4:48 minutes

This short film is about a world where wishes are granted by mythical beings that live under fountains. The wish granter is forced to go above ground in order to grant a wish of love.

4. Dustin: 7:45 minutes

This super cute animation is about a pug learning to have a new roommate of an automatic cleaning robot.

5. Rollin’ Safari: 2:01 minutes

Enjoy this fun short film about what the world would be like if animals were round.

6. Piper: 3:20 minutes

Watch a hungry sandpiper hatchling as she ventures from her nest for the first time to dig for food by the shoreline. However, the only problem is that the food is buried under the sand where scary waves roll up onto the shore.

7. Hola Llamingo: 3:52 minutes

Enjoy this film about the beautiful, fleeting friendship between a boy and his pinata which comes to life.

8. Soar: 6:14 minutes

This short film called Soar is about a young girl who must help a tiny boy pilot fly home before it’s too late.

9. Brush A Fox Tale: 3:37 minutes

A young fox who enjoys painting has a crush on his neighbor. When he tries to hide it his other paintings come to life to try to convince him otherwise.

10. Fishing with Sam: 5:53 minutes

A pesky little penguin keeps stealing all the fish from a bear, a seal, and two other penguins, but they disguise a plan to take care of that pesky little penguin.

11. The Box: 7:01 minutes

This animation is about an old man who finds a mouse in his house. He ends up taming the mouse he first wanted to get rid of.

12. Coin Operated: 5:14 minutes

Watch this short film about the life of a young man that spans over 70 years in the life of one naive explorer.

13. Partly Cloudy: 5:49 minutes

Enjoy this super cute film. Everyone knows that it is a stork that delivers babies, but where do the storks get the babies from? The answer comes from the clouds, where cloud people sculpt babies from clouds and bring them to life.

14. Lifted: 5:03 minutes

A cute animation about a young alien who is in training to capture a human but gets overwhelmed with all the switches.

15. Ormie The Pig: 3:52 minutes

This fun short is about a pig named Ormie. Ormie wants a cookie. But they are out of reach…or are they? See Ormie’s attempts to gain the warm sweet taste that is his obsession.

16. Embarked: 4:24 minutes

Watch this super cute short about a treehouse who follows his family even after the young boy moves away.

17. SpellBound: 3:06 minutes

A young girl who is jealous of her sister must save her after writing negative thoughts that unexpectedly transform into monsters.

18. The Birds: 3:25 minutes

An animated short about a group of small birds that make fun of a larger funny-looking bird, but when they try and get rid of the larger funny-looking bird their plan backfires and the large bird is soon laughing at his bullies.

19. A Fox and A Mouse: 6:23 minutes

Enjoy this sweet animation as a lonely fox hunts a mouse – and their relationship evolves as two owls begin to get in the middle of the fox’s hunt!

20. Pigeon Impossible: 6:15 minutes

A newbie secret agent is faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what to do when a pigeon gets trapped inside your multi-million dollar, government-issued nuclear briefcase.

21. The Children’s Tree: 1:58 minutes

This short film is about an imaginative little girl, a good-hearted old tree, and a helpful butterfly.

22. Hey Deer: 6:15 minutes

This fun short film is about an adorable, cocoa-drinking deer who is eager to tidy and shovel show in front of his house every day. However, there is a suspicious earthquake every night which causes the mess day by day. Between two cups of cocoa, the amazing truth reveals itself which changes the deer’s life forever…

23. Catch It: 5:25 minutes

A group of meerkats takes care of their beloved and unique fruit but a twist happens when a vulture comes and disturbs their peace of mind.

24. Mouse for Sale: 4:16 minutes

This short is about a lonely mouse in a pet shop, craving to be bought by someone. But he’s got one big problem: his huge ears. The kids entering the store keep laughing at him. Will Snickers find the buddy he so desires, someone who will take him for who he is?

25. One Man Band: 4:02 minutes

Watch this super cute short about a young peasant girl with one coin left when she encounters two competing street performers who’d prefer the coin find its way into their tip jars. The little girl is caught in the middle as a musical duel ensues between the one-man-bands.

26. Dust Buddies: 4:05 minutes

A story about the friendship between two dust bunnies who live peacefully under a couch. When an evil maid comes to clean the house and sucks Fuzz into her vacuum, Lint must overcome his fears and set out to rescue his friend.

27. The Stubborn Donkey: 4:25 minutes

The short film is all about a stubborn donkey who is difficult to move but a bit of greek music just could do the trick.

28. The Egyptian Pyramids: 3:36 minutes

This cute animation is about an archaeologist who is about to discover the secret of the Egyptian Pyramids.

29. Minuscule: 5:09 minutes

The short film revolves around the day-to-day existence of slugs and how a caterpillar tries to blend into the family.

30. Jinky Jenkins and Lucky Lou: 3:52 minutes

When the misfortunate Jenkins and the Lucky Lou run into each other one morning, they find a thrilling and fulfilling change of pace as they hurtle down the hills of San Francisco in an ice cream cart.

31. Can I Stay: 3:48 minutes

This sweet short animation is about an apprehensive homeless girl who must traverse a dangerous, wintry city in order to escape her adorable pursuers.

Get me my Problem Solving Wordless Videos Freebie!

Problem Solving Restorative Justice Graphic Visual :

Use this Flip Book Graphic Visual to help your students solve their conflicts with others and to make things right.

• 1. Identify the Problem: Fill out the scenario by writing down what happened and drawing what happened.
• 2. Have your Student Identify their Feelings: Draw their emotions and write down their thoughts in the thought bubble.
• 3. Have the other Student Involved Identify their Feelings: Draw the other person’s emotions and write down the other person’s thoughts in the thought bubble.
• 4. Make Things Right: Identify how to make things better.
• 5. My Notes: Fill in any additional information you might find helpful to know or remember.

Get your students talking and problem-solving using these super cute wordless animation videos to teach them problem-solving skills. Also, you can use these short videos to teach story retell, sequencing, answering wh-questions, or inferences/predictions. Are your students ready to start solving real-life problems? Be sure to grab the 71+ problem-solving scenarios freebie to get additional problem-solving practice!

Tuesday 7th of February 2023

I have used this resource numerous times. This is amazing! I appreciate you taking the time to create this and for making it free. My students love them. you visuals and graphics are on point. Will you be making more. I would pay for it as I find it worth it and very useful. Some of the other Wordless Video I have seen that I like include: The Present, Snack Attack, Carrot Crazy, and The Bridge. There are others...Please let us know! Thanks again!

Melissa Berg

Wednesday 8th of February 2023

Hi Judith, Thanks so much for reaching out! I'm happy to know you like this resource. I currently don't have another set in the works, but since it is a fan favorite I can definitely add it to my list of ideas for the future. Thanks for the suggestion and additional videos to look into. All my best, Melissa

Monday 7th of November 2022

This is great for my high-functioning autism students!

The Best Handout for Phonological Processing Disorder Therapy - Speech Therapy Store

Monday 11th of May 2020

[…] 31 BEST WORDLESS VIDEOS TO TEACH PROBLEM SOLVING […]

430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle - Speech Therapy Store

Saturday 2nd of May 2020

108 Free Speech Therapy Wh Questions Printable - Speech Therapy Store

Friday 1st of May 2020

Seldom Speechless

I am seldom speechless, but when i am it is because of the field of speech language pathology and the amazing littles i meet and work with everyday. my name is brittney and i am a pediatric slp..

Short Videos for Speech Therapy

I love to use short videos in speech therapy sessions to spark discussion and increase engagement. Often these videos are wordless or have minimal dialogue, which allows the students to make inferences, predictions, and use descriptive language.

Before we get to the list. I want to familiarize you with three helpful resources to bring these videos to the next level.

Safe Youtube

If you are worried about inappropriate advertisements popping up or the video ending and automatically playing something inappropriate next, paste the YouTube link into safeyoutube.net and it will generate a safe version of the video hosted off of YouTube, so you do not have to worry about students seeing advertisements or content that you have not approved.

Edpuzzle allows you to add strategic pauses in videos with built in question prompts. You can also trim videos to remove content inappropriate or irrelevant to your students. I have included an example I made below. You can sign up for a free account to make twenty of your own videos, but you also get unlimited access to tons of videos made by other educators.

Any Video/Article Visual Organizers for Describing and Critical Thinking

No time to prep? I feel ya! I have this no-print visual organizer Boom Card Deck bookmarked on my iPad for quick, engaging, language rich sessions. It includes visual organizers for describing using attributes, describing using key info, compare/contrast, sorting important vs. unimportant details, story retell, summarizing fiction stories, summarizing non-fiction stories, and inferencing.

Check it out here .

List of Short Videos for Speech Therapy

This is a growing list of animated shorts available on YouTube. I have tried to organize the videos by theme for easy planning. The title of the video is a direct link to the video. These links are subject to change, please preview content before sharing it with your students. It is your responsibility to ensure appropriateness of the content for your students.

Preheated : A boy decides to make a birthday cake for his eccentric scientist father, but accidentally spills one of his dad’s experiments and ends up with super hot hands! Use this video to target predicting, sequencing, inferencing, describing, and summarizing.

Automne : This animated reimagines the changing of the seasons by creating seasonal characters, who paint their season on to a scale model of the Earth when it is their turn. Great for working on comparing and describing the different seasons.

Geri’s Game Pixar Short : Geri is enjoying a competitive game of chess in the park…against himself. Great for inferencing, describing, and identifying emotions.

Autumn Leaves : Cute, super short film about a little boy enjoying the leaves in the fall! Great for sparking discussion about fall and making simple predictions!

Autumn Squirrel : Silly video about a squirrel trying to keep the Autumn chill out of his tree house. Great for discussing problem solving and cause/effect.

Back to School

Clocky : Cute story of a little alarm clock getting ready to ring for the first time. Great for perspective taking, describing, and problem solving.

Afternoon Class : A boy fights the urge to fall asleep during a boring afternoon class. The video features excellent imagery for using figurative language! Also great for perspective taking and cause/effect.

Acceptance & Friendship

Alike : This is a beautiful animated short with the message that it is okay to be different from others! Great for working on describing, cause/effect, perspective taking, summarizing, and predicting!

Invisible Animated Short : Two chameleons are lonely at a school dance. One chameleon wants to ask the other to dance, but he is too nervous and every time he tries something goes wrong. Great for working on summarizing narrative events, perspective taking, identifying emotions, inferencing, and problem solving.

Snack Attack : This video is awesome for working on many different social skills! The older lady in this story has the wrong perspective and she completely over reacts! Awesome for working on perspective taking, prediction, describing, cause/effect, personal space, summarizing!

Perseverance

Hair Love : This is a beautiful, heart-warming story about perseverance! Great for working on describing, predicting, perspective taking, and problem solving.

One Small Step : Luna Chu wants to be an astronaut more than anything! Follow along on her journey from childhood to the moon! Great for perspective taking, predicting, describing.

Content Warning: Luna’s father passes away during the story. She comes home to find his can left on the floor and the lights off in the house. Then, the animator shows her at his grave and destroying her bedroom in grief. The loss of her father renews her desire to work hard to become an astronaut.

Scarlett : Scarlett is a young girl with an amputated leg and a lot of perseverance! Great for working on perspective taking, summarizing, and describing!

Pip : Pip is ready to become a guide dog for the visually impaired, but the training is much harder than expected. Nevertheless, Pip perseveres and becomes a true hero. Perfect for targeting describing, compare/contrast, summarizing, and problem solving.

Lucas the Spider Animated Shorts : Lucas is an adorable Spider and everything is new and exciting to him!

Simon’s Cat in Spooky Tales : Simon’s Cat videos are terrific for inferencing and summarizing!

Thanksgiving

Simon’s Sister’s Dog in Fed Up : This one will get your student’s laughing as this poor hungry dog gets himself into a predicament. Great for inferencing and summarizing. Target figurative language with the title as well.

Simon’s Cat in Festive Feast & Other Cat Capers :

Mr. Indifferent : Great for discussing empathy, cause-effect, character development, and summarizing.

Coin Operated : This one is very silly. Target describing, problem solving, cause/effect, and summarizing using this video.

Kid President’s 25 Reasons to Be Thankful : This video is a helpful example for students as they try to brainstorm their own gratitude list.

Salt : This is my favorite Thanksgiving video. It is perfect for targeting cause/effect, sequencing, describing, perspective taking, summarizing, & predicting.

Under the Winter Sun : Two snowman have a fun snow day until the sun begins to rise. Great for predicting, describing, cause/effect, and summarizing.

Hey Deer : Ever wonder what it would be like to live inside of a snowglobe? This short answers that question. Great for predicting, inferencing, and summarizing.

The Present: A young amputee receives a puppy with three legs from his mom. This video shows the boy going from displaced frustration and anger toward the dog to care and compassion. It is a good conversation starter regarding empathy and perspective taking. USe this video to target summarizing, describing, and inferencing.

Downtown : Cute animated short about a town that has lost all of its color and a little house that brings the spirit of christmas. Use to describe, compare/contrast, predict, infer, and summarize.

A Shorter Letter : Cute video that helps kids understand you do not always get the toys you want for Christmas. Good for sparking discussions about describing, compare/contrast, and summarizing.

Here’s the Plan : This video is definitely for a more mature student group. It references divorce and includes a scene where one of the character accidentally gets a bloody nose. This video is good for discussing cause-effect, compare/contrast, and inferencing.

Petals Animated Short : This is the story of two young humanized animals with different levels of respect for the environment. Highlights the impact people can have on the environment. Great for inferencing, making predictions, identifying cause & effect, compare/contrast, describing, and summarizing.

Sweet Cocoon Animated Short : A very chubby caterpillar cannot fit into his cocoon. A few of his buddies help him out. Great for working on summarizing narrative events, identifying cause & effect, problem solving, and inferencing.

The Spark & The Time Shop : These Chik-fil-a commercials are adorable! They help children see the true meaning of christmas and are great for inferencing, predicting, and summarizing. Time shop includes some funny figurative language examples.

The Gift : A boy asks Santa for an elf and the elf is afraid of being someone’s toy. This little video is fun and festive, and great for targeting describing, compare/contrast, perspective taking, and summarizing.

Watermelon a Cautionary Tale : A boy imagines what if you really do turn into a watermelon when you eat the watermelon seeds. Great for discussing figures of speech (i.e., do you really become a watermelon? No. You may just get a stomach ache.)

Content Warning: Some of the imagery of becoming a watermelon may be scary for some students.

Beach/ Ocean

Piper Pixar Animated Short : Adorable animation of a baby sandpiper adventuring out of his nest to get his own food. Great for describing, summarizing, and problem solving.

Trouble in Paradise : This crab does not know what a coconut is and he wants it far away from his home! Great for inferencing and describing.

Bottle Animated Short : Cute wordless story of a sandman and a snowman who communicate by sending things back and forth in a bottle over the ocean. Great for working on describing and compare/contrast.

The Legend of the Crab Phare : I love this sweet video. The Legendary Crab Phare likes to collect ships as they pass by. As he gets older it is harder for him to move, so he becomes sedentary causing him to appear as an island in the middle of the ocean. Eventually, a society forms on top of him until one day he molts and begins again. So many inferencing opportunities. Great for working on describing, inferencing, and summarizing.

Taking the Plunge Animated Short : Cute video about a nervous guy, who accidentally drops his engagement ring into the ocean just before he took the plunge to propose causing him to actually take the plunge to find the ring. Great for working on non-literal language, inferencing, describing, summarizing, and problem solving.

Roughin’ It Mickey Mouse Short : Mickey, Goofy, and Donald go camping, but they have very different ideas of what roughing it means. Great for working on compare/contrast, describing, identifying cause/effect, and summarizing.

Content Warning: Mickey references being in nature’s bosom in the first ten seconds. I personally just start the video after to avoid teaching this particular vocabulary word. Also, Mickey is attacked by forest animals very time, so may view the tussle as violent.

Zoo Animals

Rollin’ Wild Animated Short : What if jungle animals were like blown up balloons? Very entertaining. Great for working on predicting, identifying cause & effect and problem solving.

Catch it! Animated Short : The meerkat’s sacred fruit is stolen by a vulture! How will the meerkat’s get it back? Great for working on inferencing, predicting, problem solving, and summarizing.

We Love Animals Animated Short : A trip to the zoo shown from the perspective of the animals inside their small enclosures. Very sad and will spark big discussions about animal care. Great for working on inferencing and summarizing.

Safari, So Good Mickey Mouse Short : Mickey and Minnie are left behind by their tour bus in the wild, but they make the most of enjoying the plains and the animals. Great for working on summarizing, inferencing, describing, understanding indirect language, and identifying cause & effect.

Thanks for reading!

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How to Use Wordless Videos to Target Language Skills

10/04/2021 by Jenna Leave a Comment

Have you ever tried using wordless videos to target language skills during speech therapy sessions? There are so many reasons why using wordless videos is great for targeting language skills. Plus, using videos during speech therapy sessions can be very engaging for students.

You can easily target the following skills that students might have language goals for by using wordless videos:

• Building schema
• Making predictions/inferencing

Pause the video and ask students what might happen next or at the end of the video.

• Retelling/Sequencing

After watching the video, have the child tell you what happened in the video. Try using visual cues such as: first, next, last or have the child draw pictures.

Have students describe what the characters are doing and tell you characteristics about what they see-characteristics of their clothes, location, etc. 

• WH Questions 

Working on receptive language skills with students is a huge goal as an SLP. Using wordless videos and asking the student who, what, where, when and why questions will help you to know how well they comprehended what was happening in the video. Try using this Super Duper Publications Ask and Answer WH Bingo Board Game or Vocabulary Bingo to get more practice on WH questions after watching the wordless video. 

• Prediction or narrating

Pause the video to work on prediction and even narration. When the video gets to an exciting part, pause it to ask the student what they think will happen. Ask them to talk about what is happening in the video to have them help “narrate” the wordless video and use their language skills even more.

• Identifying emotions/ Reading body language

Using wordless videos is really great for helping students to identify the emotions of the characters. When the characters are not saying, “I’m mad or sad,” then the student has to rely on looking at their body cues and tune in to those social cues to understand what emotion they are feeling. This is a very important skill for children to make sense of.

• Cause/effect

Use the video to help students understand and organize cause and effect relationships. Ask questions such as, What would happen next if…? Why did that happen?

20 Wordless Videos to Use

There are so many other skills that you can work on such as many social skills, problem solving, empathy and even figurative language. If you want to try using wordless videos to target language skills during speech therapy sessions, here are 20 wordless videos you can use:

Simon’s Cat

Simon’s Cat is an animated web cartoon and book series featuring a hungry cat who uses increasingly heavy-handed tactics to get his owner to feed him. There are many different episodes of this show to choose from and you can watch it on Amazon Prime or search for it on YouTube .

Snack Attack

This is a short film from Pixar (about 5 minutes) that would be great for upper elementary students or even middle schoolers. An elderly woman works hard to get her cookies out of the vending machine, only to have a teenager eat most of them at the train station…or so she thinks. 

This is a short 4 minute film about a dog and his heroics.

This short film is only about 3 minutes about a young girl who must help a tiny boy pilot fly home before it’s too late.

Umbrella is an award-winning short film inspired by true events. The film follows the story of Joseph, a boy who lives in an orphanage and dreams of having a yellow umbrella, until he unexpectedly meets a little girl, who awakens his memories of the past. It is a great wordless video to help teach about empathy.

When the old fisherman tries to convince his donkey to climb the steep winding road of their Greek island, he finds Mariza to be very stubborn. But the old man knows that no one can resist Zorba’s dance.

Bunny New Girl

This is set in Australia and is about a little girl who begins at a new school. She is terrified on her first day at her new school and wears a bunny mask. She ends up making a friend when the mask reveals what was behind it.

Ormie the Pig

Ormie is a pig, in every sense of the word. He sees cookies. He wants the cookies. But they are out of reach…or are they? 

This is a short by Disney Pixar films. Piper tells the story of a hungry sandpiper hatchling who ventures from her nest for the first time to dig for food by the shoreline. The only problem is, the food is buried beneath the sand where scary waves roll up onto the shore.

Shaun the Sheep

Shaun the sheep is a series so there are many different episodes to choose from(4 seasons to be exact.) Each episode is usually about 7 minutes long. Join Shaun The Sheep and his barnyard buddies, Bitzer, Shirley, Timmy, for mayhem in the meadow, chaos in the countryside, and pandemonium in the pasture. This series is from the Oscar-award winning creators of “Wallace and Gromit.”

Carrot Crazy

Carrot Crazy is another short film by Disney Pixar. This wordless video is perfect for teaching emotions and social thinking-especially with the surprise ending!

Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise is an animated comedy following the daily adventures of Crabby, a small orange crab who lives on a tiny tropical island.

Set to the rousing music of Ben Charest (Triplets of Belleville), this animated short about a train takes you on a journey that is both funny and disastrous.

The Fox and the Mouse

A solitary fox finds itself improvising fatherhood for a freshly hatched baby bird. Two paths cross and a family is formed, until fate reminds each of the life it is meant to lead.

Partly Cloudy

Gus, a lonely and insecure gray cloud, sculpts dangerous babies to be delivered by Peck, his stork partner. As Gus’ creations become more and more rambunctious, Peck has to figure out a way to handle his cargo and his friend’s bad temperament. This is another Pixar short film.

The First of Spring

The title pretty much sums up this short film-winter is coming to an end and signs of spring are appearing.

This wordless video is only about 2 minutes long. Watch a hunter and a deer battle each other in this silly short! film.

For the Birds

Yet another short film by Pixar. ​​One by one, a flock of small birds perches on a telephone wire. Sitting close together has problems enough, and then comes along a large dopey bird who tries to join them. The birds of a feather can’t help but make fun of him — and the clique mentality proves embarrassing in the end.

Coin Operated

“Coin Operated” is an award-winning 5 minute animated short film that spans 70 years in the life of one naive explorer.

Dust Buddies

Dust Buddies is an adorable short film about the solid friendship between two dust bunnies as they try to escape the clutches of a ruthless cleaning maid.

Have you tried using wordless videos to target language skills before? Which videos are your favorites?

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10 wordless videos for speech therapy that teac...

over 1 year ago

If you are new to wordless videos, you might not realize all the things that you can do with them. In fact, I think these are some of the most useful types of videos you can use with students with communication. - image by freepik

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More Wordless Videos for Speech Therapy and at Home

Wordless videos and animated shorts are great for eliciting speech, language, and communication. They are entertaining for individuals of all ages, and are perfect activities for both speech therapy sessions and at home.

It is no secret that we love using wordless videos...we only have three posts about them already. Because we use them so much in our sessions, we thought we would share some more of our favorites and how we use them.

Wordless videos are great for virtual learning and therapy sessions..

Though many individuals are returning to in-person care, teletherapy is around to stay. Wordless videos can also be used when some individuals are attending sessions in person and some are virtual. They are also great for carryover assignments; you can make a worksheet and provide the link to the video for individuals to complete in between therapy sessions.

Wordless videos are also useful when targeting multiple goals in a group session.

In one session, they can be used to target articulation, expressive language, and pragmatic language skills. This may be for one individual with two or more goals or within a group. For example, one individual can work on generalizing the /r/ sound in conversation, another individual can describe what they are watching, and another individual can make an on-topic comment about the video.

They can encourage language growth for all.

They are entertaining for all individuals and all skill levels. We have written about including the whole family in speech therapy activities - wordless videos can be used at home as much as during speech therapy sessions. One sibling may label things they see in the video while the other makes predictions about what will happen next.

Wordless videos are a great way to incorporate meaningful screen time.

This is usually a motivator for individuals young and old. They are entertaining, yet brief, so it doesn’t mean individuals will be sitting in front of a monitor or tablet all day.

More Favorite Wordless Videos

Some of them have slightly more mature topics , so we advise you to watch them first before using them in a session or at home!

Coin Operated

Rexy and the volcano.

• Howard's Drive-in Theater

Howard’s Drive-in Theater

Check out our other wordless video posts:

• Wordless Videos for Speech Therapy and at Home
• Wordless Videos: Best of...Therapy Tools! April 2020
• 10+ Best Wordless Videos for Speech Therapy: Animated Shorts

Want to know our favorite materials for running smooth and effective intervention sessions?

• Blue light glasses - a must for long days using screens
• Notepads - for making allllll the to-do lists
• Binders - for keeping data and notes organized
• Pens and pencils - are you a pen or pencil person? I go back and forth!

*We may make a small commission if you purchase any materials; though all opinions are our own :)

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Speech is Beautiful

Wordless Life Skills: Recipe Video Series

Education · Technology · Tips · Vlog

How to Learn to Cook – Life Skills

I’m excited to launch a new video series on my YouTube channel (Please subscribe and like – it helps) ! It’s finally something that you can actually use in therapy with your students. Personally, I find recipes — in particular video recipes — to be an ideal way to teach kids about sequencing. Cooking and eating is a huge part of living a fulfilling life, but many students don’t get in the kitchen with their parents. Many students don’t realize that how easy it is to make most of the foods they like.

Special Education Instruction

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the right videos for my students. There was too much talking, too many faces, the pacing was too fast, and there wasn’t enough information about the supplies needed. So I created my own! All of my videos are shot from the first person point of view, there are no words but simple background music that can be muted, there are no words on the screen. All of the steps are visible with all of the ingredients and materials visual too! Keep in mind, these are basic. I’m trying to get more people cooking, which means making these recipes accessible and approachable for kids, teenagers, people with disabilities, and adult who doesn’t cook. Heads up, here is a list of all of the current videos:

Wordless Videos for Life Skills Instruction

• Wordless Video Introduction – I Explain the “Why”
• Episode 1: Banana Muffins from a Box
• Episode 2: Pancakes
• Episode 3: Jello
• Episode 4: Pizza Experiment: Two Different Types
• Episode 5: Chocolate Chip Cookies from a Box
• Episode 6: Brownies from a Box
• Episode 7: Rice Krispies

I’ve made a Wordless Recipe Handout made to go with these videos: Wordless Recipe Handout . Personally, I think this writing activity is best for second grade and up. For younger children, they can retell the recipe orally (without a handout). Here are speech therapy goals that can be addressed using my Wordless Recipe videos:

• Action words
• Answering WH-Questions

If you want to help me, please SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube Channel and LIKE the videos you like the most . That sends signals to the YouTube algorithm to show and share my content with more people. Let’s get the word out so we can help even more people learn how to cook and increase their expressive language skills in the process!

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10 Wordless Videos that Teach Problem Solving - Speech is Beautiful

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Using Short Videos in Speech Therapy

• July 23, 2021

Using video clips within speech therapy sessions is a great way to target goals while keeping students engaged and attentive throughout activities. You can find videos to use for students of all ages that include vocabulary, WH-questions, inferencing, predictions, story sequencing, story retell, fluency, speech articulation skills, and many more.

In this blog post, I’ll provide you with ways to incorporate video clips within your therapy sessions along with some video examples to use as well!

Reasons Why Using Short Videos in Speech Therapy Are Beneficial:

1.  They Increase Student Engagement.

Students of all ages LOVE to watch videos! When students are engaged in what they are doing, they are more likely to retain information to then enhance the overall learning experience. Using short videos in speech therapy allows us to find materials to engage our students and then use the materials to target overall goals.

2.  They Are Time Efficient. 

Sometimes we don’t get the full amount of time we want with our clients. So, it’s important to plan sessions accordingly in order to target everything we need in the short time provided! Focusing therapy sessions around a short video may allow for a successful and time-efficient therapy session. Using a video clip introduces a topic into therapy to then guide the rest of the session. For example, if you show a short clip about springtime, you can use the video to introduce the topic of ‘Spring’ and then carry out that topic into the rest of the session!

3.  They Spark Discussion.

Finding materials and activities to spark engaging conversation with our students is key! Short videos bring topics into therapy sessions that spark long conversations and discussions to support targeting speech and language goals. Students are able to discuss how the videos relate to them personally as well, allowing you to get to know your students even better. If you run a speech therapy group session, using short videos in speech therapy with your groups allows students to initiate conversation and discuss fun and exciting topics with one another.

How To Use Video Clips While Targeting Goals:

Back in 2018, I recorded a podcast (episode 42) titled, “ How to Use Video Clips in Speech Therapy .” This recording touched on various goals you can target when using video clips, including vocabulary, WH-questions, fluency, story retell, sequencing, social skills, and inferencing. I suggest listening to this podcast along with reading this blog post in order to determine the best way to incorporate short videos within your therapy sessions.

Video Clip Examples: 

The following is a list of video clip examples I’ve compiled, along with goals you can target as well as supplemental questions you may wish to ask your students:

INVISIBLE :

Invisible is an adorable video about a chameleon wanting to ask another chameleon to dance. This video allows your students to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and work on social thinking skills.

Suggested Grade Levels:  2nd-5th, 6th-8th

Video Length:  3 minutes

You can access the video here .

Goals I can target with this and supplemental questions I can ask:

Auditory Comprehension:

• What is the green chameleon trying to do?
• Why does the green chameleon become invisible, or disappear, every time he approaches the purple chameleon? Talk about chameleons and why they change color?

Inferences:

• What do you think will happen when the green chameleon gets close to the purple chameleon? Why?

Social Thinking:

• How do you think the chameleon feels throughout the beginning of the video?
• Why does the purple chameleon cry? What cheers her up? – you can talk about times your students may feel sad and what helps cheer them up in these situations.

Predictions:

• The title of this video is “Invisible.” What do you think this video will be about?

Vocabulary:

• What does ‘invisible’ mean? You can ask your students this question prior to watching the video and then again after. See if the video helped them understand the new vocabulary?

Ormie is a fun and adorable wordless video clip about a pig problem solving his way to get cookies down from a refrigerator. There are so many opportunities to make predictions with your students while laughing at all of the pigs extreme attempts to get those cookies!

Suggested Grade Levels:  PreK-5th

Video Length:  4 minutes

• Pause the video as you get close to the end. Ask students how they think the video will end. Will Ormie get the cookies? How will he finally get the cookies down?

Problem Solving:

• Pause the video after Ormie has attempted to get the cookies a few times. Ask your students how else Ormie can try to get the cookies?

Social Skills/Perspective Taking:

• How do you think Ormie is feeling as he tries to get those cookies?
• What was your favorite way Ormie tried to get the cookies? Spark conversation with your students, especially if watching the video with a group of students. You can relate the video to personal experiences and go around the room talking about ways you have tried to reach things that were too high up.

WH-Questions:

• What does Ormie want?
• Why can’t he get the cookies?
• What happens at the end? Why can’t Ormie eat the cookies?

ANIMALS WITH WINTER COATS:

Let’s talk about arctic animals! Target new vocabulary while working on answering wh-questions with this informative video clip. Discuss animal migration and hibernation as we are approaching spring!

Suggested Grade Levels:  K-5th

Auditory Comprehension

• Name three ways animals stay warm when it is cold outside.
• The cleaner the arctic hare’s fur is, the _______ it keeps them.
• What happens to the arctic fox when the season changes?
• What does it mean when an animal migrates?
• What does it mean when an animal hibernates?
• What is the meaning of camouflage?
• After watching the video, have your students discuss the main idea of the video and summarize what they learned.

Check out this short commercial clip to make predictions and target inferences with your students. As winter is slowly coming to an end, your students may be able to relate to this hilarious video clip!

Suggested Grade Levels:  3rd-5th, 6th-8th, 9th-12th

Video Length:  1 minute

You can access the video here .  

• Before watching the video, tell your students the title. Ask them to discuss what they think may happen in the video. Talk about what it means to have a bad day and give examples of when they had a bad day.
• How do you think the man is feeling when he walks outside?
• How do you think the man is feeling at the end of the commercial?
• Have you ever had a bad morning?

Inferencing:

• Why does the beginning title say, “Some people don’t like winter?”
• What do you think the man wishes he had?

GEORGE AND AJ:

Your students will enjoy this funny video clip about two men witnessing some interesting house departures.

Suggested Grade Levels:  2nd-8th

You can access the video here . 

• After watching the video, have your students identify the main idea of the story. What is the point the video clip is trying to make?

Prediction:

• Pause the video in the middle and have your student predict what might happen next. Will there be another house departure? How do they think the house will depart?

Story Retell:

• Have your students watch the video through and then retell the story.
• What did the old man tell George and AJ he was going to do? What did he actually do?
• How did George and AJ react?
• What started happening to the other houses?
• Why did all of the older people want to get away?

Articulation:

• Have your student write down or shout out an object that has their target speech sound in the word when they see it in the video. For example, if your student is working on the /k/ sound, they can write down the word “car” when they see it. Once the video is over, you have an entire list of words to practice relating to the video.

*Reminders When Searching and Using Videos in Speech Therapy:

1.  Find videos that are  under 5 minutes  long .  Once you go over 5 minutes, the video can start to feel like it takes over your entire session! Of course, there are some videos you may find that are longer than 5 minutes, but may still be a great fit for your students. Just be sure to check your time and keep the video short in order to allow time to target your student’s goals.

2.  Don’t be afraid of  using wordless videos ! Wordless videos are great to use to target all goals with students of all ages! These videos provide you with many moments to pause and reflect on what is happening. They are always great for targeting social skills including perspective-taking. Since there are no words spoken, you rely on body language and facial expressions within most of these videos.

3.   Always  watch all the way through before showing it to your students!  Be sure to watch the videos all the way through before showing them within your sessions. You never know what you are going to find! So be safe and watch them first!!

I hope this post has inspired you to use video clips in your sessions in order to continue to support your students in meeting their goals!

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